Illegal Immigration

By Jack Nooney

Background

"Assuming you "legalized" every man, woman and child in the US tomorrow, what happens? The working person's price rises. Which means that they will be replaced by new people from Central America or Asia that will remain invisible."

"The idea that "illegal immigrants are stealing American workers jobs" sounds fairly solid on its face unless you happen to live in the American Southwest and notice that wherever day laborers congregate, there aren't a whole hell of a lot of white folks."

"Despite these claims, immigrant rights activist Anne Carr argues that immigrants commit crimes as often as American citizens, a fact “true of both legal and illegal immigrants.”

"There were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014."

Cons

"Yes, they compete for jobs with native workers, and that causes a lot of problems for a lot of people."

"the biggest threat to our economy is how these people will impact our social safety nets and other public programs."

"Obviously, our government budgets are already stretched thin, so bringing in a bunch of hungry mouths to feed is taxing on precious resources."

"On the flip side, unskilled and semi-literate workers are expensive to society; it doesn't matter the nationality or legal status."

"People violate immigration laws when entering the United States in several ways"

Pros

"Illegal immigrants, undocumented workers, whatever nomenclature you want to use, are a double-edged sword. When people move into an area, legal or not, that means more consumers and potential workers. It also means there is some measure of local economic opportunity."

"Unauthorized immigrants make up 5.1% of the U.S labor force"

. "There were 11.3 million unathorized immigrants in the U.S in 2014.The population has remained stable and currently makes up 3.5% of the nation’s population. The number of unauthorized immigrants peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million, when this group was 4% of the U.S. population."

"Mexicans make up about half of all unauthorized immigrants (49%), though their numbers have been declining in recent years."

Final Thoughts

I think that Illegal immigration benefits the US because they take small jobs that Americans don't want so it leaves the higher paying jobs for Americans.

Undocumented workers

Undocumented workers harvest strawberries during a warm spring day, April 8, 2006, in Carlsbad, California a city just north of the US- Mexican border. Heartened by huge marches across the United States and President George W. Bush 's support for a guest-worker program, Mexican workers remains optimistic that the immigration bill in the U.S. Congress can be transformed into something that will ultimately benefit millions of illegal migrants.

Border

A man walks next to the U.S.- Mexican border near Tijuana, Mexico where the fence ends in the Pacific Ocean, March 22, 2005. An analysis of government data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a private research group in Washington DC, showed an estimated 10.3 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States last year, an increase of about 23 percent from 8.4 million in 2000 and will be a hot topic at the North American Summit, when U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, March 23 in Waco, Texas at Bush's Crawford ranch.

Srikes

Illegal migrant workers who were kicked out of the Trade Union Center in Paris after occupying its offices for the past year, camp outside its entrance, July 6, 2009, in a last push to obtain the straightening out of their status. Illegal immigrants working in the Paris area have launched an unprecedented wave of sit-ins and strikes to demand their situation be normalized, challenging France's tough stance on immigration.

Undocumented workers

Undocumented workers harvest strawberries during a warm spring day, April 8, 2006, in Carlsbad, California a city just north of the US- Mexican border. Heartened by huge marches across the United States and President George W. Bush 's support for a guest-worker program, Mexican workers remains optimistic that the immigration bill in the U.S. Congress can be transformed into something that will ultimately benefit millions of illegal migrants.

Border

A man walks next to the U.S.- Mexican border near Tijuana, Mexico where the fence ends in the Pacific Ocean, March 22, 2005. An analysis of government data by the Pew Hispanic Center, a private research group in Washington DC, showed an estimated 10.3 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States last year, an increase of about 23 percent from 8.4 million in 2000 and will be a hot topic at the North American Summit, when U.S. President George W. Bush meets with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, March 23 in Waco, Texas at Bush's Crawford ranch.

Srikes

Illegal migrant workers who were kicked out of the Trade Union Center in Paris after occupying its offices for the past year, camp outside its entrance, July 6, 2009, in a last push to obtain the straightening out of their status. Illegal immigrants working in the Paris area have launched an unprecedented wave of sit-ins and strikes to demand their situation be normalized, challenging France's tough stance on immigration.